The Washington Nationals, despite a great road victory to kick off their series in San Diego on Monday night, received some unfortunate injury news about one of their regular players. In a night where stars like James Wood and CJ Abrams showed the Padres what they could have had, the game got off to a bit of a rough start on the injury front.
On a foul ball from DH Josh Bell early on in the game, a ricochet off the dugout wall ended up hitting catcher Keibert Ruiz in the head, causing him to leave the game. Riley Adams ended up taking over for the rest of the game, but as we now know, Ruiz will placed on the 10-day Injured List with a head contusion.
So where does that leave the Nationals from a catcher standpoint? The team has officially recalled catcher Drew Millas from AAA Rochester to take the roster spot vacated by Ruiz. Hopefully, Millas can earn a decent share of playing time during his latest big league opportunity, as he has not really been able to take major advantage of his chances previously.
Millas, who is now 27-years-old, came over to the Nationals from the Oakland Athletics in a 2021 deadline deal that included Josh Harrison and Yan Gomes, and was once ranked as a Top 30 Prospect in the Nationals' organization. He has played in just 31 big league games, and has a modest .259/.330/.365 slash line with a .694 OPS to go along with 2 homers and 7 RBIs.
In 52 games with the Red Wings this season, Millas has accumulated a .247/.306/.374 for a .680 OPS to go along with 4 homers and 25 RBIs. While his numbers are down overall, he has been on fire recently for the Red Wings, with an .826 OPS in the month of June, including hitting 2 of his 4 homers this season over the course of this month.
Ruiz has struggled mightily this season, with him and Adams combining to be the worst catching duo in WAR value by a very wide margin. While Ruiz is still hitting a modest .247, his .598 OPS has continued to decrease dramatically since the start of the season, and he hasn't homered since the 2nd game of the season.
Hopefully for Ruiz, he is able to come back stronger from the IL stint, as perhaps a few days off his feet will help him to be able to regain his form he was showing at the beginning of the season.
How much of a chance do you want to see Drew Millas get? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.